Stovepipe heating system



Feb. 25, 1941. w. H. LEPICK STOVEPIPE HEATING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 26; 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IKZZZepz'clzZ IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Feb. 25, 1941. w. H. LEPICK STOVEPIPE HEATING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 26, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIPIII Ill 4 IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 25, 1941 UNITED STATES: PATENT OFFICE Application September 26, 1938, Serial No. 231,806 r I In Canada August 13, 1938 1 Claim.

This invention aims to provide novel means for making use of the heat which would otherwise go to waste in the products of combustion proceeding from a. stove or similar heater.

Another object of the invention is so to construct the device that the air may be forced through it advantageously. Another object of the invention is to supply novel means for cleaning the conduits through which the products of 10 combustion pass.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

15 With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being un- 20 derstood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

25 Fig. 1 shows in elevation, a device constructed in accordance with the invention, parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the body of the device which forms the subject mat- 30 ter of this application;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section showing the thermostat; I

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken through the conduits for the products of combustion;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through the passages through which the air is forced by the fan;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section.

The numeral I indicates a heater, represented 40 for the sake of illustration as a simple type of stove, from which the products of combustion pass, by way of the parts 2 and 3 of a stovepipe, to a stovepipe thimble 4, and thence into a chimney or flue (not shown).

The device forming the subject matter of this application preferably is made of metal throughout and comprises a casing, denoted as a whole by the numeral 5, the casing comprising an upper partition 6 and a lower partition 1, the upper 50 partition being connected by an upper, funnelshaped, tubular, outlet neck 8 with the part 3 of the stovepipe, and the lower partition being connected by a lower, tubular, funnel-shaped inlet neck 9 with the part 2 of the stovepipe.

55 The partitions 6 and l are connected by conduits II] for the products of combustion. These conduits ID are of the transversely elongated form shown in Fig. 6, but each of them has, at one end, an angular portion H, the portions ll of the conduits forming flared inlet mouths l4 for the air to be heated, as Fig. 6will show. At their opposite ends, the conduits -I have rounded portions 50, forming flared outlet mouths for the air to be heated. The conduits l0 open at their upper ends into the neck 8, and at their 10 lower ends into the neck 9. Between the conduits Ill exist air passages 12 which are closed horizontally, at their upper and lower ends, by the partitions 6 and 1. Horizontally considered, the air passages l2 between the conduits ID are 15 closed at their upper and lower ends, as Figs. 6 and 2 will make manifest.

Movable scraper plates [5 are mounted for horizontal reciprocation within the conduits ill for the products of combustion. The scraper plates l5 are connected by bars 52, located above the partition 6 and below the partition 1, the bars connecting the scrapers for movement as one piece. The scraper plates l5 are operated by a handle rod 16, connected to one scraper plate and slidable in one end wall of one conduit, as can be seen in Figs. 5 and l. The scraper plates [5 fit closely but slidably in the conduits l0, and the operator may lay hold of the exposed portion of the handle rod l6 and reciprocate the scraper plates. In this way, the inner surfaces of the vertical walls of the conduits I0 may be freed of soot, and the soot will drop down readily through the inlet neck 9 and the stovepipe section 2 into the stove I or other heater that may be provided.

Air is forced through the passages l2 by a fan l1, driven by an electric motor l8. The motor may be supported in accordance with the conditions that are dictated by the place of use or the tastes of the operator, but, asdepicted in the drawings, the motor I8 is shown as connected to the neck 8 and to the neck 9 by a bracket l9. The circuit for the motor I8 is designated by the numeral 20, and in it a thermostat 2| is interposed. The thermostat 2! preferably is mounted on the neck 8.

The side walls of the conduits [0 become heated and expand, and there is a tendency for them to close, wholly or partially, the passages 12 through which the air is forced by the fan ll. In order to reinforce the walls of the conduits Ill, and to avoid a restriction of the air passages l2, an angle member 50 is secured to one wall of each conduit l0 and extends across the corresponding air passage 12 into engagement with the wall of the next-adjoining conduit Ill. The horizontal flanges of the reinforcing members are parallel to the general direction in which the air is forced by the fan I1, and the flow of air is not impeded.

The operation of the device is simple, the products of combustion proceeding upwardly from the stove I or equivalent device move through the stovepipe section 2, the neck 9 and the conduits I0, into the neck, 8, and proceed away by the stovepipe section 3 and the usual parts connected thereto. The products of combustion heat the conduits I0. air through the air passages l 2, and in this way, heat is made to serve a useful purpose, and the heat otherwise would be lost. The tapered or flaring mouths l4, airorded by the angular portions ll of the conduits l0, facilitate the passageof the air into the air spaces or passages I2 and the mouths 5| facilitate the exit of the air. The

thermostat 2| governs the operation ofthe motor [8, When temperature conditions require, the

thermostat 2| will put the motor l8 and the fan I? into operation; but the'fan does not run continuously, with a corresponding waste of current.

As has been intimated hereinbefore, the handlerod I6 may be used to reciprocate the scraper plates l5 as one piece, upon occasion, thereby The fan 5 drives I therethrough, there being transverse air passages freeing the inner walls of the conduits In from soot and the like, the walls of the conduits never being so insulated by the soot that they will not serve as effective radiators for heat that otherwise would go to waste. What is claimed is:

In a device of the character described, a casing having a lower inlet and an upper outlet on its ends, upperand, lower partition plates extended cross wise of the casing, between the casing on the one hand, and the inlet and the outlet on the other hand, a plurality of vertical spaced conduits between the partition plates, and opening between the-conduits, a bar movable over the upper suriaceof the upper partition plate and constituting a cleaner therefor, a bar movable over the lower surface of the lower partition plate and constituting a cleaner therefor, scrapers connecting the bars and of such size and shape as" to engage the walls of the conduits, to clean said walls completely of soot, the vertical disposition of the conduits permitting the removed soot to find an exit by way of the outlet, and means for reciprocating the bars and the scrapers, as one piece, from a single point of force application,

WILLIAM' LEPICK. 

